CASTIMONIA

Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group

Jesus Christ

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Orphaned

But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. – Psalm 10:14

When I think of orphans, I think about malnourished children on TV with a sad song in the background. Or the literary versions like Oliver Twist. I remember my young cousins when their mother died of cancer. Saturday, while giving my mother’s eulogy, I realized…I am an orphan.

In January of 2018, my father succumbed to a long fight with a form of muscular dystrophy. His body just wore down and couldn’t continue. Three weeks ago, I had dinner with my mother while she was in town visiting me and my brother. After a rapid illness, this Saturday I had lost both parents within a year. The despair of that realization almost broke me.

The weeks leading up to my mother’s passing were difficult. I spent most of that time at the hospital with her, holding her hand, encouraging her in her weakness, watching her fight slowly ebb. I truly thought she would walk out of that hospital. After a few short days, I was holding her hand by her bed with my siblings, watching her take her last breath, just as I had one year earlier with my father. I didn’t know I had that many tears.

In the grief that ensued, both before and after her death, I was reminded of the total helplessness I felt when I began a life in recovery. Really when I was forced to begin a life in recovery. I had just come to terms with the powerlessness I had over my addiction. Step 2 gave me a glimmer of hope in that sea of turmoil: We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Through working the Steps, through living a life of recovery, through His often painful intervention, He did restore me to sanity. That experience, knowing that He alone was the “helper of the fatherless,” sustains me now.  I am in a rough place. My relationship with my siblings isn’t great. Restoration to sanity meant truly seeing my family of origin. With that knowledge has also come a need for boundaries, for me and for them.

There isn’t a finish line when working the Steps. The spiritual awakening part means actually revisiting my own flaws and fears daily, admitting when I am wrong, making amends. I know that there is more to this story than now. For now, though, I hold on tight to Psalm 10:14.

by Keith B. NotUnknown.org

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The Secret Sins of the Church

Originally posted at: https://refugenortheast.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/the-secret-sins-of-the-church/

Statistics show that 50% of men in the church today struggle with some type of sexual sin. I have even heard of the number getting up to 80% of men in the church struggle with sexual sins. 97 billion dollars a year is spent on pornography worldwide and 13.3 billion is spent here in the United States. In fact, 89% of pornography is created here in the US. The statistics are shocking and at the same time very sad.

The average age children are getting exposed to pornography is age 9, and the type of pornography they are exposed to is the extreme hardcore pornography. If this goes uncheck and if parents are not teaching and training their children, their children could struggle with an addiction to pornography for the rest of their lives unless they get help. This causes so many problems when they are adults and are married if the addiction goes untouched.

Pornography is a progressive sin, in that, in order to receive the same high, one will continue to look at hardcore pornography and will start acting out in the form of seeking sexual acts to continue to get the same type of high. Pornography is such a huge problem in the church, it is killing the church. What is the church doing about it? Nothing.  Now there are churches that are attacking this problem; but for most of them, nothing is being done. Either the leaders of the churches don’t want to deal with it or they don’t know how to deal with it, or they themselves are struggling with it. Instead of doing anything they are turning a blind eye. The church has put sexual sins in a whole category by itself, making sexually sins far worse than other sins. In God’s eyes, there is not a difference, sin is sin.

By church leaders not doing anything in their churches they are making a bigger problem. In an article I recently read, “Porn in the Church: The High Cost of Silence” Bill Perkins was interviewing a leading expert in the area of sexual addictions. The expert said, “I believe evangelical Christians have a greater tendency to fall into sexual addictions than any other sub-culture in the United States.” When Bill asked him why, the expert stated, “Because sexual sins are so taboo in the church, people find them more exciting.” Bill makes the comment about the person he is interviewing and states, “His thoughts underline the possibility that churches, by refusing to address the problem of porn in the church, are actually creating an environment that fosters porn addictions.” If church leaders are not openly talking about the problems of pornography in their churches they are allowing the sin to remain secret.

The church needs to be equipping their men for this battle, instead of doing nothing. Let’s not forget about the women in the church as well. Statistics are showing that more and more women are now dealing with sexual addictions. I believe the number one way the enemy is destroying the church is by destroying men and their families. It is time the Church lets the light in and confront sexual sins head on. We are not doing anyone any good by turning a blind eye. By not addressing this problem, we are allowing the enemy to win, and allowing him to destroy families. Jesus came to die on the cross for sexual sins as well, and if it’s the number one struggle men are facing, why are we not talking about it?

“Porn is an enemy that will infiltrate and destroy churches from the top down, and it will do so without a blink of remorse.” Bill Perkins

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He Will Never Let You Go

The Lord said to [Hosea] again, “Go, show your love to a woman loved by someone else, who has been unfaithful to you.” – Hosea 3:1

God will not let you go. He has handcuffed himself to you in love. And he owns the only key. You need not win his love. You already have it. And since you can’t win it, you can’t lose it.

As evidence, consider exhibit A: the stubborn love of Hosea for Gomer. Contrary to the name, Gomer was a female, an irascible woman married to a remarkable Hosea. She had the fidelity code of a prairie jackrabbit, flirting and hopping from one lover to another. She ruined her life and shattered Hosea’s heart. Destitute, she was placed for sale in a slave market. Guess who stepped forward to buy her? Hosea, who’d never removed his wedding band. The way he treated her you would have thought she’d never loved another man. God uses this story, indeed orchestrated this drama, to illustrate his steadfast love for his fickle people.

Then God ordered [Hosea], “Start all over: Love your wife again, your wife who’s in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife. Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people, even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy.” (Hosea 3:1 MSG)

This is the love described in John 3:16. Hasaq is replaced with the Greek term agape, but the meaning is equally powerful. “God so [agapao] the world … “

Agape love. Less an affection, more a decision; less a feeling, more an action. As one linguist describes, “[Agape love is] an exercise of the Divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself.”

Stated more simply: junkyard wrecks and showroom models share equal space in God’s garage.

Today’s devotional is drawn from Max Lucado’s Next Door Savior.

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Insanity

“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” – Step Two

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8 – 9

I am a slow learner. I heard someone describe my condition as being a two by four Christian. Sometimes God has to be as subtle as hitting me in the head with a two by four to get my attention. You can call it hitting rock bottom, coming to the end of yourself, or whatever you like. For me, it is recognizing that my ways lead to destruction, emptiness, and separation from God. In a word … insanity.

If you haven’t read the book of Job, I encourage you to do so. I can relate with Job. In the mess of his own life, Job was surrounded by “friends” seeking to “help” him. They encouraged him to seek “help” from everyone except God. I had many influencers in my own life, listening to  guidance from everyone except the only One I could trust. I followed my own desires, twisted thinking, and selfish wants.

God intervened with Job, like he does for His own in His timing. He reminded Job that His ways were not Job’s ways. God intervened with me as well. He let me reach the end of myself. The place where I realized that continuing to follow myself or others would continue to lead me on a path of destructive behavior for myself, my family, anyone around me. I had to have everything else stripped away to realize that my choices on lead to insanity.

So what then? My choices suck. Who can I depend on? Only the One who’s ways are higher than my ways. Only He could restore me to sanity.

Who’s ways are you following? Yours? Friends? Where does your help come from? Seek help from the One who’s ways are above all others. Recognize that all other direction is not from God. Only he can restore you to sanity and a new life following His direction.

Keith B. – NotUnknown.com

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What Does the Bible Say About Overcoming Lust?

Originally posted at: https://altruistico.wordpress.com/2017/01/21/what-does-the-bible-say-about-overcoming-lust/

by altruistico

Most words in the Bible that are translated “lust” mean “a passionate desire.” Strong desire can be either good or bad, depending upon the object of that desire and the motive behind it. God created the human heart with the capacity for passionate desire so that we would long after Him and His righteousness (Psalm 42:1–2; 73:25). However, the concept of “lust” is now usually associated with a passionate desire for something God has forbidden, and the word is seen as synonymous with sexual or materialistic desire.

James 1:14–15 gives us the natural progression of unrestrained lust: “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

According to this passage, sinful lust begins with an evil desire. Being tempted by evil is the not sin. Jesus was tempted (Matthew 4:1). The sin begins when the evil desire “drags us away” from where our hearts need to be. When an evil desire introduces itself, we have a choice. We can reject it as Jesus did and refocus on the path God has set before us (Matthew 4:10). Or we can entertain it. As someone once said, “We cannot stop the birds from flying overhead, but we don’t have to let them make a nest in our hair.” When temptation beckons, we need to remember that we are not helpless. We can choose to give in or to resist.

The reason we are “dragged away” by temptation is that we are “enticed.” That word in the Greek refers to bait, as on a fishing line. When a fish sees the wiggling worm, he is enticed by it and grabs hold. Once the hook is set, he can be “dragged away.” When we encounter temptation, we should immediately reject it as Joseph did when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:11–12). Hesitation opens the door to enticement. Romans 13:14 calls such hesitation “making provision for the flesh.” Like the unwary fish, we grab hold of the tempting thought, believing it will delight and fulfill us. We savor the fantasy, imagine new and sinful scenarios, and entertain the idea that God has not provided all we need for happiness (Genesis 3:2–4). This is foolish. Second Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee youthful lusts.” To “flee” means to take off immediately. Joseph did not stick around to consider his options. He recognized sexual temptation, and he ran. When we hesitate, we make provision for the flesh and give it the opportunity to choose evil. Often, we are overwhelmed by its power. Samson was a physically strong man, yet he was no match for his own lust (Judges 16:1).

The next step in the downward progression of temptation, according to James 1, is that “desire conceives.” Lust begins as a seed, a thought packed with wrong desire. If we allow the seeds of lust to germinate, they will sprout into something bigger, more powerful, more difficult to uproot. Temptation becomes sin when it is allowed to germinate. Desire takes on a life of its own and becomes lust. Jesus made it clear that lust is sin, even if we do not physically act on it (Matthew 5:27–28). Our hearts are God’s domain, and when we allow evil to grow there, we defile His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).

Wrong desires plague every human being. The tenth commandment forbids coveting, which means lusting for something that is not ours (Deuteronomy 5:21; Romans 13:9). The human heart is constantly seeking to please itself, and when it discovers something or someone it believes will satisfy, lust begins.

It is only when our hearts are dedicated to the glory of God that we can overcome intrusive desires and conquer lust. When we surrender to the Lord, we find our needs met in a relationship with Him. We must “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We must allow the Holy Spirit to keep our thoughts where He wants them to be. It helps to pray daily the words of Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” When our heart’s desire is to please God more than ourselves, we can keep lust at bay.